Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses

Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses and is hospitalized in Miami on August 11, 1976.

Keith Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who.

He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon".

Keith Moon joined The Who in 1964.

He played on all albums and singles from their debut, 1964's "Zoot Suit", to 1978's Who Are You, which was released three weeks before his death.

Keith Moon was known for dramatic, suspenseful drumming—often eschewing basic back beats for a fluid, busy technique focused on fast, cascading rolls across the toms, ambidextrous double bass drum work and wild cymbal crashes and washes.

Keith Moon's penchant for the wild life was not only outwardly detrimental; it began to take a toll on his health while he was still in his twenties, as well as on his drumming and his reliability as a band member. On the 1973 Quadrophenia tour, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, Keith Moon took a large mixture of horse tranquillisers and brandy. He passed out during "Won't Get Fooled Again" and again in "Magic Bus". Pete Townshend asked the audience, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good". An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the rest of the show. Pete Townshend later said in an interview that Moon had consumed large tranquilliser pills, meant to be shot at animals, with the brandy. During the band's recording sabbatical between 1975 and 1978, Keith Moon put on a great deal of weight. Nonetheless, John Entwistle maintained that Keith Moon and The Who reached their prime live peak during 1975 and 1976. That Who tour earned them Rolling Stone's 'red suspenders' for best live rock band.

Keith Moon's close friend Ringo Starr was seriously concerned about his lifestyle and told Moon that if he kept going the way he was he would eventually kill himself. Keith Moon simply replied "Yeah, I know.


Retro History for August 11 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 "Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child" premieres
1989 Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor complete 329 opening stand vs. England
1989 Voyager 2 discovers 2 partial rings of Neptune
1988 225 at bats after #299, Met Gary Carter is 59th to hit 300th home run
1988 Charlotte Colisieum in Charlotte North Carolina opens
1988 Meir Kahane renounced U.S. citizenship to stay in Israeli Parliament
1987 France and Great Britain send minesweepers to Persian Gulf
1986 68th PGA Championship: Bob Tway shoots a 276 at Inverness Club Toledo
1985 Oakland A's Dave Kingman becomes 21st to hit 400 home run
1985 "Tap Dance Kid" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 669 performances
1985 67th PGA Championship: Hubert Green shoots 278 at Cherry Hills Denver
1985 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz
1985 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic
1985 Rudolf Povarnitsin of U.S.S.R. sets new high jump world record (7'10"12)
1984 101,799 fans at soccer match Brazilie-France
1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olym track golds
1984 Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench's #5 uniform
1984 During a radio voice test President Reagan joked he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes"
1984 Men's choir Maranatha Netherlands forms
1984 U.S.S.R. performs (underground) nuclear test
1982 Twins Terry Felton loses and runs career to 0-14 (en route to 0-16)
1982 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 Angola revises its constitution
1980 Mohammed Ali Radjai appointed premier of Iran
1980 Yankees Reggie Jackson hits his 400th home run off Chicago's Britt Burns

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 28 degrees F in Embarrass Minnesota
1979 Phillies Tug McGraw gives up record 4th grand slam of year
1978 Funeral of Pope Paul VI
1978 Legionnaire's disease bacteria isolated in Atlanta
1977 Geoff Boycott scores his 100th FC hundred, vs. Australia at Headingley
1976 Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses and is hospitalized in Miami
1976 Race riot in Cape Town, South Africa; 17 die
1975 Expos' Jose Mangual struck out 5 times in a game
1975 U.S. vetoes proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to U.N.
1974 56th PGA Championship: Lee Trevino shoots a 276 at Tanglewood NC
1974 Coup in East-Timor under UDT
1974 Head-on collision between two buses kills 21 (Ankara, Turkey)
1972 "Cheech and Chong Day" in San Antonio Texas
1971 Construction begins on Louisiana Superdome
1971 Harmon Killebrew hits home runs #500 and 501
1970 Jim Bunning becomes 2nd (Cy Young) to win 100 games in both leagues
1970 Tony Perez becomes 1st to hit a home run in red seats at Riverfront

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Don Drysdale retires because of damage to his right shoulder
1969 Pittsburgh Steelers beat New York Giants 17-13 in Montreal (NFL expo)
1968 Beatles launch "Apple Records" label
1968 Satchel Paige, 62, and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by Braves
1967 Al Downing becomes 12th to strike-out side on 9 pitches
1966 Last Beatle concert tour of U.S. begins
1965 6 day insurrection starts in Watts section of Los Angeles
1965 Beatles movie "Help" opens in New York City
1965 Watts riots begin in Southeast LA, lasts 6 days
1964 Beatles' "A Hard Days Night" opens in New York City
1963 Kingston Trio are mystery guest on "What's My Line?"
1963 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Women's Golf Open Invitational
1962 Andrian G Nikolayev, becomes 3rd Russian in space aboard Vostok 3
1962 Beach Boys release "Surfin' Safari"
1962 Bolotnikov runs world record 10km (28:18.2)
1962 Dodgers protest wetting down of Candlestick to slow Maury Wills down
1961 Warren Spahn records victory #300, beats Cubs 2-1
1960 Chad declares Independence from France

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1957 Patty Berg wins LPGA All-American Golf Open
1957 Paul Hindemith' opera "Harmonie der Welt," premieres in Munich
1956 1st flight 4-motor Cessna 620
1956 Elvis Presley releases "Don't Be Cruel"
1955 Indonesia government of Harahap forms
1954 BC Lions plays its 1st CF game, they lose to Montreal Alouettes, 22-0
1954 Formal peace takes place, ending 7+ years of fighting in Indochina between French and Communist Vietminh
1952 Hussein Ibn Talal I, proclaimed King of Jordan
1951 100,000 acres flooded from Mississippi River in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois
1951 1st color baseball game, Braves vs Dodgers, telecast, WCBS-NYC
1951 New York Giants (NFL) beat Ottawa Roughriders (CFL) 38-6 in Ottawa
1951 New York Giants lose to go 13 games behind Brooklyn Dodgers, later win pennant
1950 17th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 17, Philadelphia 7 (88,885)
1950 Boston Brave Vern Bickford no-hits Brooklyn Dodger, 7-0
1950 Hitting just .279, Yank great Joe DiMaggio is benched for 1st time
1950 King Boudouin I takes oath as royal prince of Belgium

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


- Retro Rebirth

www.RetroRebirth.com




If you liked this article then make sure you subscribe to the feed via RSS It's Free and easily visible on your iPad or iPhone and favorite news reader. You can also follow me on Twitter too!

Become a Retro Rebirth Fan on our Facebook Page a simple LIKE is a great way to support us.


Watch Retro Videos on our Retro Video YouTube Page

Check out the Retro Rebirth Shop - hand made crafts, t-shirts, videos, comic & pop art

Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Keith Moon, drummer for Who, collapses on August 11, 1976.